We navigated north through the wee hours of the morning, and at sunrise found ourselves anchored off the southeastern coast of Santa Cruz Island in Academy Bay. After two days of pristine islands and wildlife it felt a little odd to see yachts and ships at anchor and houses and roads on shore! However, with the prospect of seeing the giant tortoises today, for which these enchanted islands were named, this morning we were as always eager to get on shore and experience another aspect of Galapagos.
The Zodiacs took us into the main town dock where we boarded buses for a short drive to the headquarters of the National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station. Our naturalist led us along a cobbled road to the CDRS where we admired native plant gardens and looked for and identified several of the hard to distinguish Darwin’s finches. Notably we saw the cactus finch, the vegetarian finch, several ground finches, and some of us had a glimpse of the woodpecker finch! We also had a good look at the star breeding male tortoise affectionately called “Super Diego” who has done more than his share of the reproductive efforts required to bring the Espanola tortoise species back from the brink of extinction.
From the Darwin Station we walked through the town, stopping to shop at the many colorful boutiques and to take photos at the fish market where sea lions and pelicans were begging for scraps. At The Rock Café we had a welcome cool drink of passion fruit juice and then boarded the buses for a 20 minute drive into the lush, wet, green highlands of Santa Cruz Island.
Our first stop in the late morning was at a family run sugar cane and coffee plantation—El Trapiche. Here we learned how cane and coffee products are prepared using traditional methods, and we enjoyed sampling coffee, sugar cane juice, farmer’s cheese, raw cane syrup, brown sugar, and cane liquor! We returned to the buses and drove towards the west in the heavy garúa drizzle.
Lunch today was served in the highlands and was grilled chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, and a delicious tres leches cake. While we lunched the garúa drizzle turned into serious rain and saw firsthand why the highlands are so lush and green! We drove down the slopes of the island and further west and found many giant tortoises enjoying the wet weather and abundant food. We out on boots and walked through the fields enjoying the sight of these ancient reptiles in their natural habitat. Many of us walked through a lava tunnel which our naturalists explained had formed when a cooling lava river crusted over and then the molten inner material ran out leaving a large hollow tube.
In the late afternoon we returned by bus to the town of Puerto Ayora; some of us headed back to the ship while others did more sightseeing and shopping. This evening, during our cocktail hour on board, we enjoyed a talk by world renowned photographer Tui DeRoy and following dinner we were delighted with music and dance provided by a folkloric group, EcoArte. It has been yet another full and interesting day in the magical Islas Encantadas of Galapagos!
